Deutsches Heer / German Army

The German Heer, or army, was formed in May of 1935. It was formed after the passing of the “Law for the Reconstruction of the National Defense Forces”. This law brough back into existance a free standing German army, navy and airforce, something that had been essentially banned after the end of World War I.

With the end of World War I and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the Weimar Republic – the successor to Imperial Germany – was allowed only a small defensive military force known as the Reichswehr. The Reichswehr’s size and composition was strictly controlled by the Allies in the hope that by restricting its constitution they could prevent future German military aggression. The Reichswehr consisted of 100,000 men divided between a small standing army, the Reichsheer, and a small defensive navy, the Reichsmarine.

In 1933, the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) came to power and the infamous Third Reich was born. Two years later in 1935 the Treaty of Versailles was renounced and the Reichswehr became the Wehrmacht. The newly formed Wehrmacht would still consist of an army and a navy – the renamed Heer and Kriegsmarine, but a new airforce was born as well – the Luftwaffe.

Only 17 months after Adolf Hitler announced publicly the rearmament program, the Army reached its projected goal of 36 divisions. During the autumn of 1937, two more corps were formed. In 1938, four additional corps were formed with the inclusion of the five divisions of the Austrian Army after the Anschluss in March. During the period of its expansion by Adolf Hitler, the German Army continued to develop concepts pioneered during World War I, combining ground (Heer) and air (Luftwaffe) assets into combined arms teams. Coupled with operational and tactical methods such as encirclements and the “battle of annihilation”, the German military managed quick victories in the two initial years of World War II, prompting the use of the word Blitzkrieg (literally lightning war, meaning lightning-fast war) for the techniques used.

The German Army entered the war with a majority of its infantry formations relying on horse-drawn transport. The infantry remained foot soldiers throughout the war; artillery also remained primarily horse-drawn. The motorized formations received much attention in the world press in the opening years of the war, and were cited as the main reason for the success of the German invasions of Poland (September 1939), Norway and Denmark (April 1940), Belgium, France and Netherlands (May 1940), Yugoslavia (April 1941), and Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941). However their motorized and tank formations accounted for only 20% of the Heer’s capacity at their peak strength. The army’s lack of trucks (and petroleum to run them) was a severe handicap to infantry movement especially during and after the Normandy invasion when Allied air power devastated the French rail network north of the Loire. Panzer movements also depended upon rail: driving a tank over 150 kilometers wore out their tracks.

The Heer initially consisted of 21 Divisional sized units and 3 Army Groups to control them, as well as numerous smaller formations. Between 1935 and 1945 this force grew to consist of hundreds of Divisions, dozens of Army Groups and thousands of smaller supporting units. Between 1939 and 1945 close to 13 million served in the Heer. Over 1.6 million were killed and over 4.1 million were wounded. Of the 7361 men awarded the initial grade of the highest German combat honor of WWII, the Knights Cross, 4777 were from the Heer making up 65% of the total awarded.

Between 1939 and 1945, the Heer bore the majority of six years worth of fierce combat, some of which was so fierce – as on the Eastern Front – humankind will likely never again see such fighting. Although not immune to the overtones of politics and the occasional brush with questionable actions, the vast majority of German Heer units served with great distinction across many thousands of miles of battlefields.

The Heer was defeated with the German capitulation on May 8th 1945, although some units continued to fight for a few days longer in fits of sporadic resistance, mainly against the Soviets in the East. The Allied Control Council passed a law formally dissolving the Wehrmacht on the 20th of August 1946, the official “death” date of the German Heer.

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Color Photos

Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (DRK) or German Red Cross nurses basic uniform worn by the DRK helferin/helferinen (helpers) during wartime consisted of medium grey pleated-front blouse or a blue-grey pinstriped blouse and skirt with detachable white collar as shown in the following photo.

Quiet days in Johannisburg (East Prussia) with the blooming tulips while the war against Soviet Union was imminent, early summer 1941. Left is Oberleutnant Hermann Budenbender (Abteilungsadjutant Aufklärungs-Abteilung 35 / 35.Infanterie-Division) while at right is unknown Führer Panzerspähzug from the same unit.

The year was 1940 and this rare colour photo shows a unit of Hitler’s army relaxing as they waited to see if they would be called on to cross the Channel and attack.

This picture was taken by Hugo Jaeger and showing Wehrmacht Fuhrmann (coachman) from an unidentified artillery unit ready to feed their horses.

This German soldier is preparing to move further after a rest, 1941. With him one of the millions of horses who did their “duty” for Wehrmacht in World War II. The soldier is holding a plucked chicken and his k98 rifle is slung on his shoulder.

Wehrmacht Reiterzugführer (commander of mounted infantry platoon) on the Eastern Front in the Russian campaign of 1941 – Operation Barbarossa.

These men are wearing the Model 1936 Tunic with the bottle-green collars. The soldier on the left is wearing a Model 1938 Field Cap. A pair of MG34 Machine-Guns have been placed on an anti-aircraft mount.

In one of the many eroded balkas (gullies) in the outskirts of Stalingrad, The Catholic army chaplain Kriegspfarrer Dr. Alois Beck is celebrating mass to absolves soldier’s sins from an unidentified infantry battalion about to attack the city, autumn 1942.

Picture taken late in May 1945 in Czechoslovakia, possibly a German retreat or even a surrendering ceremony.

Happy German soldiers visited the Versailles Palace in 1940, shortly after the fall of France and the German-French ceasefire of 22 June 1940.

German Afrikakorps soldiers reading “Deutsche Illustrierte” and “Die Woche” magazines in their staff car that parked in the barren North African desert, while a Kar98k rifle protruding in the back seat. “Deutsche Illustrierte” was a large-format weekly magazine, while “Die Woche” was a weekly issued family magazine. These magazines are packed with photos and home front activities. It also depicts news, art, culture etc.

German soldiers and their morning ablutions. Eastern front, date unknown.

A German VW Typ 82 leichter geländegängiger Personenkraftwagen Kübelwagen in front of the backdrop of a mountain village in San Piero Patti, Messina, Sicily, Italy, with the castle-like structure of Convento dei Carmelitani, 1943.

A German driver operating a jack in changing a flat tire on a Kübelwagen Typ 82 with engine visible in Sicily, Italy, 1943.

The ubiquitous German motorcycle messenger (Kradmelder) from Stab Artillerie-Regiment 110 in the Eastern Front with his DKW NZ 350, wearing his rubberized coat (Kradmantel) that has been wrapped and buttoned around his legs to keep dirt and dust off his uniform.

Deutsches Afrikakorps (DAK) soldiers on the open rear gate of a truck. One has received a field main package from home. The contents are eagerly inspected – cigarettes, a piece of ham and a sausage.

Marching in the east,1941.

Marching in the east,1941.

Marching in the east,1941.

Marching in the east,1941.

Marching in the east,1941.

A rare color photo, taken in March-April 1944, showing a Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger from schwere Panzer-Abteilung 508 undergoing repairs in the Workshop Company’s (Werkstattkompanie) position in front of the buildings of the former “Arco” bomb factory near the Forte Tiburtino, Rome (Italy). The camouflage finish and crosses are just visible on the Tiger. The exhaust boxes and cover plates have been removed. The cover plates are lying on the ground to the right of the tank.

Eastern Front. A German courier delivering mail and rations to combat troops in the trenches.

A German assault team from 113. Infanterie-Division, supported by StuG III Ausf.F from Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 244, pause before another attack close to the remains of the Dzershinzky Tractor Factory in Stalingrad, 15 October 1942.

Heer combat infantrymen taking a “Feuerpause” (firebreak), a cigarette break or a short rest break – in their advance in Russia, summer of 1942.

Kriegsberichter (war correspondent) of Berichterstaffel z.b.V. OBH strikes a conversation with Ukrainian female farmers out in the fields.

A German assault team from 113. Infanterie-Division, supported by StuG III Ausf.F from Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 244, pause before another attack close to the remains of the Dzershinzky Tractor Factory in Stalingrad, 15 October 1942.

Brandenburgers in Russian uniform in the summer of 1941. The Brandenburgers (German: Brandenburger) were members of the Brandenburg German Special Forces unit during World War II.

A German mortar crew prepares to fire the 8cm schwere Granatwerfer 34 during training.

On the Eastern Front.

Dentist at work.

Kradmelder wearing Kradmantel.

Army officer shake hands with his soldier in the latter’s proxy marriage wedding ceremony. Picture allegedly taken in the outskirts of Stalingrad, summer 1942.

Picture taken late in May 1945 in Czechoslovakia, possibly a German retreat

Modern Day Photos

Ausf. M, Deutsches Panzermuseum, 2005.

Ausf. L, US Army Ordnance Museum, 2007.

Ausf. H in the Musée des Blindés, Saumur.

Then and Now Photos

House of the National Assembly in Belgrade – then and now. After nine SS men from the “Reich” Division used the general confusion and formally captured the Yugoslav capital on 12 April 1941, a victory parade of the true conqueror of the city, the 1st Armoured Group, was held on 13 April at noon. In the (old) photo, tanks of the Panzer-Regiment 15 / 11.Panzer-Division “Gespensterdivision” (Ghost Division) parade in front of their commanders: standing in the centre is Generaloberst Ewald von Kleist (commander of the armoured group), to his right is Generalmajor Ludwig Crüwell (divisional commander), and on the left, in black uniform, is Oberstleutnant Gustav-Adolf Riebel (commander of the division’s panzer Regiment).

Black and White Photos

German control post on the Demarcation Line.

Using a Pak 40 against Yugoslav partisans in Bosnia on 12 January 1944.

German soldiers talking with French women by the Moulin Rouge in June 1940, shortly after the German occupation of Paris.

German soldiers march by the Arc de Triomphe on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, June 1940.

Supplying the pocket by air.

A light infantry gun is pulled forward to a new position in the struggle for Stalingrad, 12.10.42.

Southern Russia, Summer 1943.

Southern Russia, Summer 1943.

Training on the 7.5 cm leichtes Infanteriegeschütz 18.

A Wehrmacht infantry squad with the MG 34 in the light machine gun role.

German soldiers with an MG 34 in France, 1944.

Soldaten taking a rest in 1942.

Panzer IIIs and IVs on the southern side of the Kursk salient at the start of Operation Citadel.

German Panzer IV and Sdkfz 251 halftrack on the Eastern Front, July 1943.

German troops during a lull in the fighting during Operation Citadel on the southern side of the Kursk salient.

German tanks during Operation Citadel.

Off Color Photos

Waiting for transport.

Heer

Soldat having some fun!

Testing and training.

On November 1, 1944, Arthur Thompson, a Royal Marine from Herney Bay in Kent, came across a German camera during the allied operation to liberate the Dutch. He found the camera in the concrete bunkers on the island of Walcheren. It seems to have been left by the fleeing Germans.

Colonel Schulz at a briefing before the mission on January 5, 1944.

The coffin of Major General Schulz rests on the old command tank of the tank commander, in which he had driven many victorious attacks.

On January 31, 1944, at a heroic cemetery in the east, the funeral of the great tank driver, Major General Adalbert Schulz, took place. The picture shows officers of the Panzer Regiment who where led by Major General Schulz from victory to victory, who are burying their former heroic commander.

Paintings and Art

Atlantic wall defense gun emplacement pictured on this Dutch card.

Battling overwhelming Soviet forces.

Heer crossing a river painting.

Heer

Structure

The Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) was Germany’s Army High Command from 1936 to 1945. In theory the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) served as the military General Staff for the German Reich’s armed forces, coordinating the Wehrmacht (Army Heer, Navy Kriegsmarine, and the Air Force Luftwaffe) operations. In practice OKW acted in a subordinate role as Hitler’s personal military staff, translating his ideas into military plans and orders, and issuing them to the three services. However, as the war progressed the OKW found itself exercising increasing amounts of direct command authority over military units, particularly in the west. This created a situation where by 1943 the OKW was the de facto command of Western Theatre forces while the Army High Command (OKH) is the same on the Eastern Front.

The Abwehr was the Army intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr (German for “defense”, here referring to counter-intelligence) was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany’s post-World War I intelligence activities be for “defensive” purposes only. After 4 February 1938, its title was Overseas Department/Office in Defence of the Armed Forces High Command (Amt Ausland/Abwehr im Oberkommando der Wehrmacht).

Nazi Germany used the system of military districts (German: Wehrkreis) to relieve field commanders of as much administrative work as possible, and to provide a regular flow of trained recruits and supplies to the field forces. The method OKW adopted was to separate the Field Army (OKH) from the Home Command (Heimatkriegsgebiet), and to entrust the responsibilities of training, conscription, supply and equipment to Home Command.

Organization of the Field Forces

The German Army was mainly structured in Army groups (Heeresgruppen) consisting of several armies that were relocated, restructured or renamed in the course of the war. Forces or allied states as well as units made up of non-Germans were also assigned to German units.

For Operation Barbarossa in 1941, the Army forces were assigned to three strategic campaign groupings:

Army Group North with Leningrad as its campaign objective.

Army Group Centre with Smolensk as its campaign objective.

Army Group South with Kiev as its campaign objective.

Below the army group level forces included Field armies, panzer groups, which later became army level formations themselves, corps, and divisions. The army used the German term Kampfgruppe which equates to the English ‘combat group’ or battle group. These provisional combat groupings ranged from an Army Corps size such as Army Detachment Kempf to commands composed of several companies and even platoons. They were named for their commanding officers.

Copyright

Disclaimer-In no way does this website support Racism, Hate, Propaganda, or the National Socialist / Neo-Nazi Views. It does honor hard-working, loyal German Citizens that served their country, not the government of that time. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on the website, no liability is accepted for any consequences of using it. We use material from many sources and confirm the accuracy of the sources.

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